1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
What evokes the affinity we feel for trees? What role does the tree play as a landscape typology and how can we extend the conversation beyond what is already practiced and talked about?
The practice of additional urban greening — such as vertical landscapes — plays an important role in connecting the urban public to “nature”. Similarly, ornament in architecture, various articulated skins, built surfaces and forms include natural living systems and structures that can be scaled up as a way of enhancing functional and aesthetic vocabulary.
The tree is a vehicle for environmental functionality: carbon sequestration, air filtration, provision of habitat, climate cooling, and city beautifying. I argue that there should be an environmental ambition to increase their presence and function. For this thesis I am led to ask what is the middle ground between the living and the built (non-living), and how can I test this idea utilizing terms of imagery and functionality?
This thesis will dissect the tree and its multitude of contributions to our every day experience. This close examination will then contribute to the design of tree-form-replicas that can inhabit the urban realm as functioning entities that perform both aesthetically and environmentally.